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Hotel in Florence center - Location
Hotel Bretagna is located in the center of Florence, near to the most important attractions like Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery.
How to reach us:
By train:
Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN) station. Once you are out the train station, you have to go in Santa Maria Novella Square, and then follow via dei Fossi. As soon as you are in front of the Arno river go on your left in Lungarno Corsini, we are at #6. It is a nice walk, for a maximum of 10 min.
By car:
In case you arrive by the highway A1, don't miss FIRENZE CERTOSA exit, it is the right one. Follow directions for the CENTRO CITTA', enter the city center by PORTA ROMANA, then VIA ROMANA, VIA MAGGIO, cross the SANTA TRINITA bridge and turn left in LUNGARNO CORSINI we are at #6.
By Flight:
From the airport, the best thing to do is to take a taxi. It will charge you 15/20 Euro. Otherwise take the bus for Santa Maria Novella train station and follow our directions as above.
More info: Hotel in Florence center
Visit the province of Florence
BARBERINO VAL D'ELSA
Barberino Val d'Elsa is a fortified village situated on a hill above the Val d'Elsa 373 meters high, is located halfway between Florence and Siena in the north west of the Chianti.
Barberino Val d'Elsa was founded by the Republic of Florence as a castle, in strategic position along the Via Cassia, the country was founded after the destruction of the Florentine troops Semifonte fortress, stronghold of the Alberti, the destruction occurred in 1202. Thanks to its location along a major road to Barberino Val d'Elsa became one of the main centers of the Florentine.
GREVE IN CHIANTI
Greve in Chianti is a beautiful country situated in a flat area between the hills of Chianti in the province of Florence, at about 30 km.
Greve in Chianti was born at the margins of the major communication networks that were part of the route Volterrana Francigena. Originally, in the eleventh century, was established a small settlement on the hill of St. Francis, then the hill was the site of an old hospital and then, by the end of the fifteenth century, a small settlement of the Franciscan monastery. The village, however, remained a mere dependency of the castle Montefioralle.
Since the Middle Ages, the history of Greve is related to its main square, which has always exercised the function of mercatale.
Thanks to its position that allowed it to easily reach Florence and the Val d'Arno higher, and its position between Florence and Siena, Greve soon became the site of an important market, which took place in Market Square, which is located at the heart of a densely populated, already rich in churches and rural churches and dotted with feudal castles and villages, the most important of which was precisely Montefioralle.
The oldest part of the village revolved around the convent of San Francesco and Market Square, which soon became the main market place in the area, the square will remain substantially intact until the nineteenth century.
The square of the market, today piazza Giovanni da Verrazzano, the characteristic form of an elongated triangle that is largely surrounded by porticos and the center is a statue of Giovanni da Verrazzano, grevigiano explorer and navigator, who on behalf of France and explored discovered many areas of the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada, including the Bay of New York. One of the vertices of the square is occupied by parish church dedicated to the Holy Cross rebuilt in neoclassical style in the nineteenth century.
IMPRUNETA
Impruneta is a beautiful country situated between the hills of Chianti in the province of Florence, at about 17 km.
Already in Etruscan times, the sixth century BC, where today is Impruneta was a place of worship. But history of the village itself dates back to the Middle Ages (XI century), when it was founded, following the discovery of the sacred image of Our Lady, the present Basilica of Santa Maria all'Impruneta.
The construction of the shrine provoked a great development with the town surrounding the birth of an important market, after Impruneta was at the head of one of 72 leagues of the Florentine. In memory of the role of the market remains the Fair S. Luke, that was for centuries one of the most important cattle markets in Tuscany.
The expansion of the city of Florence, greatly influenced the history of Impruneta, in the twelfth century the Florentines destroyed the fortress of Montebuoni, controlled by the family of Buondelmonti dominating the whole town. Impruneta then joined permanently to the territory of Florence, as part of the podesteria Galluzzo. From the fourteenth century, thanks to highly favorable nature of the land, developed the art of terracotta which is why Impruneta is famous in the world. Only in 1929 was established the City of Impruneta.
In July 1944 he was severely bombed Impruneta undergoing numerous victims among the population and damage to structures, among them was also damaged the Basilica of Santa Maria in fact, many of the decorations that you see on the ceiling could have been lost.
The Basilica di Santa Maria all'Impruneta is the most important historical building in the country, it is at the center of the square Buondelmonti, on one side of the Basilica are the Loggia del Pellegrino, built between 1643 and 1670.
The interior of the basilica is an aisle and works of considerable merit, including a Nativity of the Virgin of Passignano (1602), a vocation of San Pietro di Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli (1606) and two attributed to Michelozzo newsstands and decorated with terracotta invetriate of Luca della Robbia, which preserve the relics of the True Cross (the right), and the image of the Madonna of Impruneta (the left).
Very interesting is the Museum of the Treasure of Santa Maria all'Impruneta (Museum of Sacred Art), which collects manuscripts, gold and other material of the Basilica.
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